The Children Are Our Future
by Findyourlightgirl
Summary: Amber tried to help her friend. That's all she ever wanted to do. She wanted to make sure Faye was safe. People lie, and cheat, and betrayal happens. But when she and 99 other delinquents are sent to the ground, can she succeed? On the ground, death is inevitable. But Amber's not going to stop fighting until the people she cares about are safe.
1. New Beginnings

Amber gently brushed her hair. Her mind was racing. She thought of everything that had happened the past few months. She thought of everything that was going to happen. In a matter of 5 months, her life had fallen apart. Arrested for helping her friend, being put into confinement. And in 17 days, she would be floated. She didn't even know if Faye was okay. She could be dead, She could be with her mother. Or she could be in the Skybox with Amber. She wouldn't know Faye's fate until she herself was dead.

From outside the door, Amber heard yelling. Her door opened with a loud bang and two guards ushered in.

"Prisoner 32, turn around and hold out your hand." Was this it? Was today the day she was to be floated? How long had she been in here? Surely it was not her birthday. She did as she was told and felt a stinging in her wrist.

"Ow!" Looking down, she say a metal cuff on her right wrist. "What is this?" She asked. The guard grabbed her arms and led her into the hallway. All of the prisoners were being taken out of their cells. All had the same cuff as her. Amber panicked.

"You're killing us aren't you? You're killing all of us!" The guard didn't answer. She didn't fear death. At least she thought she didn't. But knowing that this was the end, she couldn't help but be scared. What was beyond this life? She wasn't religious but her mother had tried to bring her up with some sense of religion. Her mother! What would happen to her mother! And Faye. Everyone she cared about. Would they know? Her breathing became shallow. Black dots started forming in her eyes. And then... black.

She woke up. Some kid was yelling. On a screen in front of her, Chancellor Jaha was talking. Tuning in to what he said she found out they were going to earth. Oh no. Again she started to panic.

"Hey you alright?" The girl next to Amber was looking at her strangely.

"I'm fine," she said catching her breath "I'm Amber, by the way."

"Octavia. What do you think of this whole Earth thing." Amber didn't have time to answer as people started yelling. Looking around she saw a guy floating in the air.

"Hey check it out. You're dad floated me anyway." He said. Amber heard the unbuckling of seat belts beside her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Going for a ride." How stupid could he be? Octavia was laughing from beside her. She was undoing her belt.

"Don't. As soon as the parachutes kick in , you'll go flying." Octavia slowly buckled her belt again. From across the room she heard a familiar voice. I sounded like...Clarke! Amber had met her a couple times when she worked for Abby Griffin. Now, Amber didn't feel so afraid. Clarke was calm, strong, and helpful. She would instantly take control of the group and keep everyone safe. That is, if Earth was survivable. Suddenly, the drop ship started to violently shake, sending the boys out of their seats flying across the ship, slamming into the walls.

"Finn are you okay?" Clarke yelled. Oh Lord have mercy on my poor, sinning soul. Octavia grabbed my hand. We held onto each other as everyone screamed. And then everything stopped. Silence filled the air.

"Listen," a kid behind her was talking."no machine hum."

Amber slowly unbuckled herself. All the kids raced out and downstairs. She looked at Octavia. She smiled, her green eyes shining. Amber couldn't help but smile too. They were on Earth. Now to find out if they could survive.

Getting on the dropship was the easy part. Getting off was hard. Amber tried pushing in between the racing kids, but her short physique didn't help. She also tried to keep an eye on Octavia at all times, as she was the only person she knew besides Clarke. Some people were yelling at a guy at the front. Amber couldn't see over anyone's head. She could see his hand reaching for the lever for the door.

"Stop!" It was Clarke. "The air could be toxic!"

"If the airs toxic, we're all dead anyway." He had a soft, deep voice.

"Bellamy?" Octavia said from beside her. She walked slowly toward the man, who she now knew was Bellamy, making a path in the people large enough for Amber to see through. He was kinda attractive.

"My god, look how big you are." He pulled Octavia in for a hug.

"What the hell are you wearing? A guards uniform?" She asked. Amber tuned out as they started talking. She looked around for the red hair of Faye. She couldn't see anything. Tears welled up in her eyes. _Relax, she could still be on a different level. _Tuning back in she heard Bellamy saying something.

"Lets give them something else to remember you by."

"Yeah, like what?" Octavia snapped.

"Like being the first person on the ground in 100 years." Amber cut in. Octavia smiled gratefully at her. Bellamy looked at her. Amber got butterflies in her stomach under his gaze. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. He pulled the lever. Bright light showered in. She shielded her eyes. _Wow. _Her mind was full of so many new sights. Octavia hesitantly walked down the ramp. She stopped at the end before jumping off. Her hair shimmered in the sun.

"We're back bitches!" She yelled. Amber laughed and ran out with the rest of the crowd. She stepped onto the ground. Hard but soft underneath her boots. She felt the soft breeze on her face, gently blowing the smell of fresh air. She couldn't believe her eyes. Everywhere she looked there was green. Green trees so tall, they seemed endless Green grass everywhere it could grow. And flowers. Oh, the flowers. So beautiful. She started laughing. She didn't know why. She just couldn't stop. She was crying too. Tears of joy. Tears of happiness. Tears of... loneliness. She looked at the groups of friends smiling and celebrating together. And she was alone. Suddenly, Earth didn't feel so great.


	2. Discovery

Amber tried to get as far away from the other delinquents as she could. She focused on the beautiful sights instead of her loneliness. It was hard. She wanted to find Faye. Taking a deep breath and shaking her head, she headed back to the dropship. Maybe she could find someone to help her. Instead what she found was Clarke, Wells, and the Bellamy guy from earlier arguing.

"Hey Clarke. I see you made friend quickly," she said."whats going on?"

"We have to get to Mt. Weather." Wells jumped in."You heard what my father said. We need those supplies."

"Screw your father. What you think you're in charge, you and your little princess." Octavia added.

"We need to get to Mt. Weather, not because Jaha said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this will be." Clarke added. "Its about a 20 mile trek. If we leave now, we can make it there before dark." Bellamy crossed his arms, not looking convinced.

"Here's an idea. Why don't you two go find it, let the privileged do the work for once."

Amber zoned out, looking around for Faye. She only zoned back in when she heard Wells' cry of pain.

A black-haired guy and Wells were circling each other, fists out for a fight. Before she could say anything, Finn dropped off the roof of the dropship.

"Kids got one leg. Why don't you wait til its a fair fight." Damn. That was hot.

"Hey Spacewalker! Rescue me next." Octavia voiced every girls thoughts. Amber smiled. She wished she could have the confidence of Octavia.

"So Mt. Weather. When do we leave?" Finn asked. She hadn't realized how close he had gotten to her. She shivered.

"Right now." Clarke replied.

"How are the three of you going to carry enough food for 100 people." Wells scoffed. Finn turned around and grabbed two kids. Monty and Jasper if she recalled correctly.

"Sounds like a party make it six." Octavia came up to the group and smiled at Amber. She smiled back.

"What the hell are you doing." Her brother said.

"Going for a walk." Bellamy's face was humorous. She wanted to laugh. Then he looked at her, and she blushed, looking away. Glancing at him again, she saw him smirking.

"Amber!" Clarke was snapping her finger in front of Amber's face.

"What?"

"Were leaving."

"Right. I'm coming." _God, you're an idiot._ Her mind whispered to her. _Do you even think?_ No. She really didn't.

Amber stayed away from the group for the most part. She always stayed away from people. But as she looked at them laughing and having fun, she kind of didn't want to be alone. _No. _She shook her head. _Focus. You're going to Mt. Weather, you're getting food then going back to the dropship. And when you get back, Faye's gonna be there waiting for you. You don't need anymore friends. Faye's the only family you need._ She was so focused on Faye, she didn't notice everyone kneeling down. Coming to an abrupt stop, she tripped, and almost fell on Finn. She felt her face getting warm when he looked at her and smirked. She turned her head to what everyone was looking at. _Holy shit._ Its a fucking deer. It was so beautiful. It was leaning down, eating some grass. She wanted to pet it. Finn was moving forward to get a better look. She wanted to see it closer too, but she made the mistake of stepping on a stick. Startled, the deer turned toward. She gasped. It had two heads, with a gruesome, bloody space between each one. It took off, leaping into the clearing in the woods.

"Oh god. I don't want two heads." She whispered to herself. Monty chuckled beside her.

"Lets keep going. We need to get there before nightfall." Clarke stuttered out.

They pushed on. They were getting tired, but Clarke insisted they keep going. It felt like they had been walking for hours.

"We should just stop for a little bit." Jasper said.

"No we have to keep going." Clarke replied.

"Don't be such a hard ass Clarke." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Octavia taking off her shoes and jacket.

"Octavia, what are you doing?" she asked. Octavia just looked at her and smiled. She turned around and jumped off the pile of rocks. Everyone ran over. Amber gasped. It was a river. Octavia was grinning up at them.

"There isn't supposed to be a river here." Clarke said shaking her head.

"Well there is." Finn replied "so take off your damn clothes." All the boys were undressing.

"Come on Amber. Lets have some fun." Monty said. Maybe she would. She was tired and her clothes were sticking to her body with sweat. She smiled at him and took off her jacket. She saw a ripple in the water. It was heading towards Octavia.

"Octavia get out of the water!" she yelled. The boys noticed the ripple too.

"Get out now!"Jasper yelled. The thing was moving closer and closer. Amber saw terror in Octavia's eyes, as she was pulled under. Silence. They waited for something: another ripple, a sound. A couple feet down, Octavia came up, gasping.

"Octavia, get to the side!" Without thinking, Amber jumped in. She didn't know how to swim. She tried to recall any books she had read that mentioned swimming. She pushed her legs and moved her arms wildly. With luck, she managed to move forward. She grabbed Octavia's arm and pulled her toward the ground. Moving slowly, kicking her legs fervently. She heard everyone talking, but their voices sounded distant. Pushing harder and harder. They were almost there. Jasper jumped in next to her, grabbing both of them. They got to the shore just in time. Breathing heavily, Amber surveyed the damage. Octavia's thigh was cut. Clarke was tending to it. Octavia reached over and kissed Jasper on the cheek, while grabbing Amber's hand and smiling. Amber smiled back.

"Next time, remind me to save the girl." Monty said under his breath. Everyone laughed, glad to be alive.

"Maybe we should find a place to rest." Clarke suggested. They all mumbled a yes, walking a small distance into the forest and found a place to sit on some soft leaves and moss. Amber was tired. She closed her eyes for what seemed like a minute, but when she opened her eyes again, it was dark. Rubbing her eyes, she noticed light not far away. She got up, being careful not to disturb Monty who was asleep beside her. As she got closer, she realized the light was coming from mushrooms and moss. They glowed in the dark, a bright fluorescent blue. It was beautiful. Amber was happy. Then from the back of her mind came a picture of Faye. _She would love this._ Amber was sad.


	3. Faye Lafontaine

Shortly after Amber had fallen asleep again, Clarke shook her awake. They had found a vine to swing across the river with. She,Clarke, Monty,and Octavia stood near the river, looking up at Finn and Jasper. Finn was pulling the vine, testing to see if it would hold his weight.

"Quit stalling and go already, space walker" Amber said, smiling up at the boys. Octavia giggled beside her. He was about to go when Jasper grabbed his wrist and whispered something in his ear. He glanced at Octavia. Amber shook her head, chuckling to herself. His new found crush was gonna get him killed. He grabbed the vine. Octavia grinned.

"Go Jasper!"she yelled. Everyone started yelling words of encouragement and whooping. That was all he needed. He took a running start and pushed off the small cliff, holding the vine for dear life. He let go once on the other side, landing on some rocks.

"You okay Jasper?" Finn asked him. Jasper got up, threw his hands in the air, and yelled

"Apogee!" They all joined in, yelling nonsense. Jasper walked a little further, and picked up a flat piece of metal. He turned it around so the rest could see.

"We made it! Mt. Weather!" In a span of three seconds, everything turned wrong. Time seemed to slow down. Something whistled through the air, hitting Jasper throwing him back, into a tree.

"J-Jasper! Jasper?" Amber called, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. Finn pulled her down behind some rocks. Looking carefully over the rocks into to the forest, she saw nothing.

"We're not alone." Clarke said, a frightened look on her face.

"Come on, lets run." Finn suggested. They all took off, running into the woods. Amber stayed behind, helping a limping Octavia. In front of her, Monty tripped and fell.

"Monty, come on we have to go!" Clarke pulled him up. Amber looked down at what he had tripped on . It was a skull. But it was deformed, like the pictures she had seen of a homo erectus skull. She looked up at the others. Each had a look of horror on their face. A pained scream echoed throughout the forest.

"Jasper!" Clarke yelled, running back to the river. They all followed. But when they looked to where he had been a minute ago, he wasn't there. There was a small trail of blood and in his place, lay the sign he held up.

"We should go back to the dropship." Octavia said. Amber agreed. Slowly, they made their way back, no one saying anything. They were tired, their muscles aching, their spirits deflated. They heard the other delinquents before they saw them, all shouting the same word.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Amber walked faster. She got there before everyone else.

"What the hell are you doing!" She yelled over the crowd. Before her, Wells and the black-haired guy from earlier were in a knife fight.

"Wells! Let him go!" Clarke demanded, coming up from behind me. Bellamy came rushing to his sisters help once he saw her.

"What happened?" Wells asked "Wheres the food? Wheres the kid with the goggles?"

"We were attacked," Amber said "Jasper was hit." She looked around at the panic stricken faces.

"Attacked? By what?" Bellamy asked. She whipped around to look at him. She almost got distracted when she looked into his brown eyes. Almost.

"Not what. Who. Turns out when the last grounder on the Ark died, he wasn't the last grounder." She said. She turned back around and stomped to the dropship before anyone could say anything else. She climbed up to the second floor and flopped onto one of the seats. Closing her eyes, she tried to picture anything else than the way Jasper's body had jerked against the tree, and the sound of his scream. She heard someone calling her name. She covered her ears. The person pulled her hands off her head. With an exasperated sigh, she opened her eyes. She was met with the best thing that had happened in 2 years.

"Faye!" She hopped up and threw her arms around her friend.

"I thought you were dead, Amber."

"I thought _you_ were dead." For the first time in the past 5 months, she was relaxed. She missed the feeling of being completely safe in Faye's arms.

"Hey Amber, are you coming with us?" Clarke interrupted their reunion. When she saw the two girls together, and apologetic look came across her face. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt, but were leaving soon if you're coming."

"Where are you going?" Faye asked.

"To get Jasper."

"Jasper? The kid who got speared? Dude hes got to be dead. There's no point."

"No, we heard him scream." Amber said.

"So? That was what, like an hour ago?"

"But there's still a chance." Clarke exclaimed with a hint of anger in her eyes."

"Amber you cant be serious. You're going to go into the woods with a bunch of teenagers to find a guy who might not even be alive? Its too dangerous."

"Jasper is a good guy," Amber pleaded with her "If Clarke says theres still a chance that hes alive, the I'm gonna take it."

"We wont be alone anyway. I've got a plan." Clarke cut in. With that she turned around and climbed down the ladder.

"Great. Princess has a plan." mumbled Faye. The two girls followed in Clarke's footsteps until she came to a stop in front of Bellamy.

"I hear you have a gun." She asked. He lifted up the bottom of his shirt to show the gun sticking out of the waist of his pants. "Great. Come with me." Faye gave Amber a look. A look that said _Are you fucking kidding me?_

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you want them to follow you and right now they're thinking that only one of us is scared." Clarke said convincingly.

"If you want to be the leader you have to show them that you'll make the right decisions when it comes to their lives." Added Amber, following Clarke. His brow furrowed.

"Murphy you come with me, Adam my sister doesn't leave this cab, got it?" Slowly he followed after the three girls and Wells. Amber fell into step with Murphy and Bellamy. Up ahead, she heard Wells mumbling to Clarke and Faye.

"So what's your deal, short stack?" Murphy questioned her, "What'd you do to get locked up?"

"None of your business." She didn't want to talk about _that_.

"Come on what did you do? We're all friends here."

"It doesn't matter anymore. What did you do? Murder someone? Rape a girl?"

"Maybe. You interested?"

"Hey whats the rush? You don't survive a spear through the heart." Bellamy said, grabbing the gun from his pants.

"Put your gun away, Bellamy." Clarke scolded him.

"As soon as you take this wristband off, we can go." He said, grabbing her wrist. Amber wanted to punch him.

"Jasper screamed when they moved him," Clarke explained. "If the spear hit his heart, he would have died instantly. Doesn't mean we have time to waste."

"Brave princess." Behind Amber, some leaves rustled. Finn appeared through the trees.

"Why don't you find your own nickname," he said. "You call this a rescue party. We gotta split up. Clarke you come with me." They walked ahead while Amber, Faye and Murphy went to the right a bit, leaving Bellamy and Wells behind.

"You ever gonna tell what you did, sweetheart?" Murphy asked Amber.

"When it matters."

"Will you two stop flirting?" Faye interrupted the two. "I'm gonna vom if you hit on her one more time."

"Are you jealous?" Murphy taunted her.

"Gross." The three continued this way. Murphy hitting on the girls, Faye groaning in annoyance, and Amber giggling at Faye's disgust. They could hear the two boys heavy footsteps behind them. They walked for what felt like hours. They heard the faint rushing of water and something splashing in it. Amber pushed through the trees to see Clarke and Finn in the water.

"You shouldn't be in there. I thought it was dangerous." Wells called to them.

"Its not deep enough. Its safe." Clarke called back. The five started walking across the small river. The water came just about the middle of Amber's calf. It felt cool and she relaxed. She closed her eyes. She wanted to stay here for the rest of her life. Everyone else started walking ahead of her. Faye turned around and saw that Amber had stopped.

"Amber come on. You're the one that dragged me out here. Hurry your ass up." She called. Slowly Amber opened her eyes, the sun temporarily blinding her. She had questions.

"Why are you down here?" She asked. Faye looked taken aback.

"Some guards found some of Standen's stuff at my house." She choked out.

"I told you to get rid of his stuff!" Amber was pissed now.

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever. We'll talk about it later. We need to focus on Jasper." She pushed past Faye and walked up to the group. They were all staring down at something.

"Find something?"

We found some blood." Finn answered.

"Jasper's?"

"Yeah. There's a trail so we're gonna follow it."


End file.
